A good old fashioned compressor shootout is underway. I just found a rare and elusive PWNZOR to face off against my OvniFX Smoothie, which I really like to begin with.
I'm still toying with the PWNZOR to get my optimal sound dialed in. I tend to like a tiny bit of fattening from my compressors - nothing over the top, but I usually set them for a little boost with the output/gain control and run them always on. I am definitely after some punch, though I know how subjective a term that is.
For reference, I'm getting close on the PWNZOR with the following: Slow attack (3:00), low ratio (~9:00), Vintage switch disengaged (down), Input so it is barely triggering (not staying on) with normal attack across the strings, and Gain just above unity.
On the Smoothie I run the wet/dry signals almost 50/50 with a slight bump in the compressed signal to get things past unity gain. Attack is slow (4:00), Tone pretty "flat" (12-12:30), and sustain around 9:30 where it is lighting with normal attack but not staying lit for more than a second. The -20 dB pad is engaged for some extra headroom.
At this point, I like the top end/clarity of the PWNZOR a bit more. It sounds like it might cut better in the upper-mids and it seems to be enhancing the tone of my active jazz without majorly coloring it. It's just tidying things up, evening out the strings a bit, and giving me a bit more punch/tightness. The Smoothie, on the other hand, has this meaty fat presence in the lows and low-mids. It's smooth but still has a decent punch to it with the slow attack and relatively quick release (for that pedal anyway). Neither one really colors my tone the way I'm using them, but they both seem to have their own "thing". I'm in no real hurry to get rid of one or the other, but neither one is a cheap $100 pedal that I want laying around if it's not going to use for a while.
I think the ability to blend wet/dry on the Smoothie is fantastic and helps maintain some snappy responsiveness and attack along with the compressed signal. I'm wondering if running a blender with the PWNZOR would level the playing field in the low-end, as the Smoothie seems to have an advantage there. That said, I hear the Smoothie doing some inherent fattening/boosting in the lows, so maybe that's a inherent to the Smoothie and why i dig the sound so much.
I'm curious if anyone else has compared the two and what your thoughts are? Any suggestions while I continue toying with the PWNZOR and dialing it in? I know there are two internal pots for Release and Input Gain. I've got those right around 12:00 right now, but may toy with them tonight. I'm guessing @bongomania would have some insight and wisdom to share having built one and reviewed both...
I'm still toying with the PWNZOR to get my optimal sound dialed in. I tend to like a tiny bit of fattening from my compressors - nothing over the top, but I usually set them for a little boost with the output/gain control and run them always on. I am definitely after some punch, though I know how subjective a term that is.
For reference, I'm getting close on the PWNZOR with the following: Slow attack (3:00), low ratio (~9:00), Vintage switch disengaged (down), Input so it is barely triggering (not staying on) with normal attack across the strings, and Gain just above unity.
On the Smoothie I run the wet/dry signals almost 50/50 with a slight bump in the compressed signal to get things past unity gain. Attack is slow (4:00), Tone pretty "flat" (12-12:30), and sustain around 9:30 where it is lighting with normal attack but not staying lit for more than a second. The -20 dB pad is engaged for some extra headroom.
At this point, I like the top end/clarity of the PWNZOR a bit more. It sounds like it might cut better in the upper-mids and it seems to be enhancing the tone of my active jazz without majorly coloring it. It's just tidying things up, evening out the strings a bit, and giving me a bit more punch/tightness. The Smoothie, on the other hand, has this meaty fat presence in the lows and low-mids. It's smooth but still has a decent punch to it with the slow attack and relatively quick release (for that pedal anyway). Neither one really colors my tone the way I'm using them, but they both seem to have their own "thing". I'm in no real hurry to get rid of one or the other, but neither one is a cheap $100 pedal that I want laying around if it's not going to use for a while.
I think the ability to blend wet/dry on the Smoothie is fantastic and helps maintain some snappy responsiveness and attack along with the compressed signal. I'm wondering if running a blender with the PWNZOR would level the playing field in the low-end, as the Smoothie seems to have an advantage there. That said, I hear the Smoothie doing some inherent fattening/boosting in the lows, so maybe that's a inherent to the Smoothie and why i dig the sound so much.
I'm curious if anyone else has compared the two and what your thoughts are? Any suggestions while I continue toying with the PWNZOR and dialing it in? I know there are two internal pots for Release and Input Gain. I've got those right around 12:00 right now, but may toy with them tonight. I'm guessing @bongomania would have some insight and wisdom to share having built one and reviewed both...
